Slovakia make most of 'lucky goal'

Jakub Sylvestr capitalised on a goalkeeping error from Cyprus No1 Tasos Kissas to earn Slovakia their second victory in five days, enough to propel them to the Group 7 summit.

'Lucky goal'
Sylvestr had been guilty of wasting two good chances in the first half but when Kissas failed to gather Peter Janošík's centre midway through the second period the ŠK Slovan Bratislava forward had the simplest of headers to make it 1-0. "I have never scored such a lucky goal," he said, though it did not matter to the 2,500 fans in Senica as Boris Kitka's side made it seven points from three UEFA European Under-21 Championship qualifiers, six in their last two following Saturday's win in Serbia.

Missed chances
"If somebody had told me a week ago we'd have six points from these two matches I would not have believed them," said Kitka, though he is not entirely happy. "The first half was poor, we were lacking movement in midfield and though we were better after the break we needed a goalkeeping mistake to earn the points." Had Sylvestr made the most of two chances at the end of the first half they may not have needed it, the No9 also denied by Kissas eight minutes from time. His ability to get in the right place at the right time was, however, rewarded.